Jan. 12: Updates From the Australia Floods

A man looks at debris floating across a flooded street in the inner Brisbane suburb of West End, Jan. 12. See more photos

Floods in Australia’s Queensland state have taken a devastating turn this week as heavy rain continues, devastating the state’s booming coal mining industry. Authorities warned again Wednesday the death toll from the recent deluge in the south east of the region could rise dramatically with flooding now reaching the state’s capital of Brisbane, home to even some large financial firms. So far, the cost of rebuilding infrastructure is estimated by the state’s government at 5 billion Australian dollars (US$4.96 billion).

0424 GMT: Losses to farmers from current floods in northern New South Wales and other floods in December will exceed A$500 million, with sugarcane and grain growers most affected, said Kristina Keneally, the state’s premier. Areas in the state’s north and northeast have been affected by the same weather system that has brought heavy rains and floods to southeastern Queensland in recent days.

0400 GMT: Death toll from the week of floods climbs to 12, Australian authorities said. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh had said ten people perished from the floods earlier Wednesday, but noted the number of deceased would likely rise further. Overall, the death total since the flooding began at the start of December now sits at more than 20 people.

0311 GMT: Brisbane’s extensive system of low-lying creeks and tributaries means that even suburbs distant from the flooded Brisbane River itself face inundation. At Archerfield Airport, a site three miles south of the river that services mainly flying schools and emergency services, parts of the runways are expected to disappear underwater from this afternoon, says spokeswoman Kerry
Reeves.

That’s not likely to be a significant problem, though, as the airport has now been more or less turned over to emergency helicopters. “The water will find its way to the airport but they’re confident they can keep it open,” she said.

0158 GMT: Cattle sales at live markets severely limited by the floods, Meat & Livestock Australia Ltd. said Wednesday. Australia is the second biggest global exporter of beef after Brazil, and the northeastern state of Queensland accounts for about 45% of beef shipments to external markets. Major destinations for Australian beef exports, which account for two-thirds of national production, include the U.S., Russia, Japan, South Korea and many other Asian nations.

0138 GMT: Brisbane’s bus and ferry services will stop operating Wednesday due
to the flooding while rail services are operating at a limited capacity, according to Queensland government transportation service TransLink. Limited public transportation is running outside of the city, however the flooding has caused disruptions to that service as well. The city’s airport remains open.

0100 GMT: No. 2 Australian supermarket chain Coles shutters 13 stores in Queensland because of flooding. As of late last week, the company’s owner Westfarmers was grappling with access to 33 stores for restocking, and a spokesman said Wednesday that the company currently cannot get to those stores at all. “At this stage there’s virtually no road access to restock stores up north,” he said.

0004 GMT: Queensland Premier Anna Bligh tells reporters at press conference that floods ravaging her state will peak Thursday local time at levels not seen for around a century, adds Port of Brisbane — Australia’s third-busiest container terminal — will be closed indefinitely. “By 4 a.m. tomorrow morning (local time), we expect Brisbane to be experiencing flooding of 1974 proportion and slightly higher,” she says.

2317 GMT: Brisbane River seen overflowing its banks flooding basement carparks in the center of the city.

2124 GMT: From his house overlooking the Brisbane River in the city’s inner western suburb of Indooroopilly, Professor Colin Apelt is looking out on a familiar scene. He moved into the building a few years before the city’s devastating 1974 floods and once again floodwaters are starting to invade the street.

“It’s eerily similar to 1974,” he says. “We had a long period of rain and now the river is rising but the weather is beautiful.” A hydrology expert at the University of Queensland, he played a major part in building up the city’s flood defenses in the wake of the 1974 disaster and is not concerned about any threat to the Wivenhoe Dam holding back some of the worst floodwaters from the city.

“Wivenhoe was capable of coping with a one in 10,000 year event when I last reviewed it 10 years ago and they spent quite a lot of money upgrading it after that to make it structurally safe for the worst conceivable event,” he says. Still, the floodwaters are lapping close to home and Apelt spent Tuesday moving furniture and belongings from one of his street’s lower-lying houses into his own building. “I’ll move my car up to higher ground so I can walk to it through the floodwater if necessary,” he says, “but this house is so high relative to the river it would take Noah’s flood to get to my level.”

2130 GMT: In an early morning update, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told ABC Radio the death toll currently stands at 10 but could more than double as rescue efforts continue. “Police are anticipating we will have very grave news for another 15 if not more people,” said Bligh, who put the missing persons total at more than 90 people.